A Shift in the Timeline

2

Noctis and the others were just about to leave, however Arabella pushed the doors open; alerting everyone in the room and running to where the others stood. She bowed silently, watching Noctis look at her with slightly narrowed eyes.

'I gotta save you father.' She thought, standing back up.

King Regis nodded at his son, who got the message and started to leave. His gaze turned towards Arabella, who smiled up at him. "Arabella Lucis Caelum, was it?" He questioned, tilting his head to the side.

Once the blonde haired girl nodded the King rested his head into a neutral position, a smile added to it. A kinder expression that the princess appreciated, though she could understand the one that was thrown at her by her own father. It would be an understatement if Arabella said she was surprised at Noctis's attitude - of course with him being King that attitude hardened into one entirely different.

But, looking at King Regis now, she could see the resemblance between her father and grandfather - she almost chuckled through the short silence.

Regis suddenly stood up, making the person right next to him tense up considerably. Arabella could understand, and frowned once her eyes came into contact with the cane in the King's grasp.

"I was made aware of your arrival," Regis piped up, walking past the girl in question. The girl raised an eyebrow, her blue eyes following the ravenette's movements closely in case her fell or something close to that.

The ravenette suddenly turned his head, beckoning her to follow him without opening his mouth to speak. Arabella silently wondered if this is where most of her kindness came from, she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. The other person in the room followed both of them with a weary expression, watching over the King with the upmost attention.

Blue eyes glanced at the walls of the halls as the three of them walked, the princess remembering a few little memories of said walls that sparked happiness in her heart. "You are here to save my son, correct?"

"Yes that is correct grandfather." Arabella replied, tearing her eyes away from a small portion of the wall next to a large window. Though spotless and clean, it was filled with scribbles upon scribbles of blue Tenebrae flowers, ones that Arabella's mother told her about.

Regis sent a chuckle her way. "That is fine. I would like for you to accompany him to his bride to be, Arabella."

The heel of her black leathered boots hit the first step outside, the concrete sparking another memory that struck her heart: annoyance. Annoyance hit her tongue like steaming hot chocolate, though she contained it quickly. "Of course. That's what I'm here for." She smiled, seeing her father's crazy hair floating crazily.

'How did he even manage to keep his hair up like that?' She inquired, mentally crossing her arms at the thought. King Regis fumbled down the stairs, trying to reach Noctis before he entered the royal steed known as the Regalia.

Arabella decided to catch up before her grandfather rose the percent of him falling once he decided to go back up the steps, trying to catch her attention and beckon her forward again.

"Your highness!" The person who accompanied them finally opened his mouth, which gained the attention of Noctis and the others. Arabella could easily spot Ignis among them.

The younger ravenette had sighed, rolled his eyes and muttered "what now?" at the scene of his father and that unknown girl making their way towards him.

Both reached Noctis, who had time to glance at their expressions. One was soft but stern, the other was slightly blank; however blue eyes sharply stared back at him. Noctis didn't notice until now, but the girl was very short, others would probably mistake her for a child at this point.

Father and son chat for a while, with eye rolling and sarcastic snap backs. Regis places a hand on his son's shoulder as he turns to leave. "Walk tall, my son. And Arabella will accompany you to your destination."

The younger ravenette's eyes met Arabella's once more and a rolling of the eyes ensued. Like father like daughter I suppose.

The King watched with a smile as the two of them sent each other sharp glances as they made their way to the Regalia.

•

It was miserable, the heat being down on the five of them with no mercy. Arabella wiped sweat off her forehead, crossing her arms with a sigh as she leaned against the side of the car. The tallest out of their group, Gladio, was trying to get the attention of the other cars. So far, there wasn't a lot of luck.

Ignis was seated comfortably in the driver's seat, though even he was miserable. A gloved hand wiped sweat off the side of his face.  The royal gunman laid on the hard ground, his eyes closed. Her father was on the verge of doing the same, however he was quite exhausted so he decided his position was enough for now.

"I think we can forget hitching a ride to the place," Gladio muttered, Ignis picking his head up to look in his direction. "I thought people outside the city were friendly..."

The royal tactician shook his head. "You can only go so far on the kindness of strangers." He replied.

The royal shield turned his body, looking at Noctis, Prompto and then Arabella as he raised his eyebrow in silent thought. "Looks like we're going to have to push her the whole way."

From the ground a groan escaped Prompto's lips. Understandable,  no one really wanted to push or move anything in sweltering heat. "I already pushed myself... to the brink of death." He whined, gaining the princess's attention.

With a soft smile the princess stopped leaning against the car and moved towards the laying gunman. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. The girl kept tapping on his arm until he opened his eyes. "The faster we move this car to Hammerhead, the faster we can get to a place with working air conditioning."

Gladio tapped Noctis's shoulder, then lightly kicked Prompto's foot  so the two boys could get off the hot ground. All Arabella wants at the moment is something cold to drink. "She's right ya know. Now c'mon this car isn't gonna move itself."

The three boys got into position and Arabella began to walk around, back and forth, she declared herself as the cheerleader for them as they pushed the car. She didn't have pom poms but that was fine.

"I thought the car was supposed to move us." Prompto whined once more.

The ravenette rolled his eyes again. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Ready.... steady.... puussssshhh!"